Big Swell Injures Surfers At Pipeline

“It makes me nervous when he’s out at Pipe—it’s so dangerous,” Aamion Goodwin’s wife, Daize Shane, was telling a friend on the beach late Friday afternoon. Moments later, he stroked into a set wave—just as he has done hundreds of times before—and stalled, setting up for the barrel section. Just then another surfer, Cody Graham, dropped in late in front of him, falling directly in Aamion’s path. It’s uncertain whether it was Cody’s impact or the impact of the thick lip that landed on his leg, but Aamion came to the surface visually cringing in pain. Daize ran down the beach, their young son in tow, to help Aamion out of the water.

By the time he reached the beach, his knee was swollen nearly twice it’s size. The ambulance was called, and within moments the flashing lights and sirens filled the Pipeline grass and parking lot, a blaring and conspicuous reminder of how brutal the North Shore reefbreaks can be. His bones survived the impact, but he sustained substantial ligament and muscle injuries. It will likely take months of rest and physical therapy before he’ll be completely back to his pre-injury condition.

Dave Rastovich also sustained an injury to his tail bone that afternoon.